Multiple circuit controlling switch



May 17, 1932. R. POPP 1,858,597

I MULTIPLE CIRCUIT CONTROLLING SWITCH Filed Feb. 17, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l n mam; IIIIIIIIIIINJE:

/ 152 'JJ T May 17, 1932. R PQPP I 1,858,597

MULTIPLE CIRCUIT CONTROLLING SWITCH Filed Feb. 17, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 llll Patented Ma y l7, 1932 UNITED STATES Pr]: ounce RUDOLF .POPP, OF VALPARAISQ, INDIANA, ASSIGNQR TU MCGILL MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF VALPSO, INDIANA, A CORPQRATIGN OF INDIANA MULTIPLE cine-ctr oonrnonnrnc swi'ron Application file'd February 17, 1930. Serial lilo. 429,024.

My invention relates to electrical switches and has for its principal obj'ect the provision of a switch" of relatively simple structure which can be readily adapted to control one 5 or more of a plurality of independent or interdependent circuits by merely changing the wiring connections.

My invention also contemplates certain improvements inthe construction of switches My whereby the above result is obtained together with improved contact between the stationary and moving contact elements of the switch.

\ The above results are obtained. by the cooperation between the mounting of the stationary contactsand the structure thereof which gives a spring contact structure having a considerable length of spring so" constructed as to yield about two pivots atright angles to each other without "any great distortion of no; the material which would causecrystallization and early destruction of the spring contacts. a i i My invention has also for an object the provision of an improved movable contact structure cooperating with the stationary contacts which structure is capable of rapid assembly and has practically no parts that are liable to wear out in the normal life of a switch or cause any trouble.

It is a further purpose of this invention to provide in a switch of this character anovel means for assembling the stationary and movable contact means with a swinging switch lever whereby to obtain a simple and positive lever action for controlling the switch.

@ther objects jandadvantages of the invention will appear as the description proceeds in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein the preferred form or the invention is-shown. It is to be understood, however, that the description and drawings are to be taken as illustrative only and not as limiting the invention except in so far as it is limited by the claims.

lnthe drawings- Fig. l is a top plan View of a switch with the top frame member removed;

Fi 2 is a section on the line 2'2 of ig. 1 wit the top frame member in position;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. l Fig. i is a detailed view of the stationary spring contact; and

Fig. 5 is an exposed view showing the movable contact or bridging member assembly...

Referring now in detail to the drawings, this switch is made up of upper and lower insulating frame members 6 and 7 which frame members are connected by means of a plurality out spacing members such as indicated at 8, 9., and 10 on one side and 11, 12, and 13 on the other side. These spacing members are made of conducting material and, as shown more clearly by Figs. 1 and 3, are provided with shoulders and end extensions such as 14: which extensions pass through the insulating members 6 and 7 and may be then upset so as to hold the insulating members in position. The spacing members are preferably provided with wiring terminal connectors such as screws 15 and 16 lid which may be provided on all or on part of v the spacing members since these members are all duplicates and preferably all provided with an aperture threaded to receive the wiring terminal screws.

Beneath the shoulder l'l'of the spacing members, there are secured a plurality of spring contacts such as the one illustrated in Fig. A} there being six of these contacts as 1 shown in Fig. l numbered 18, 19, 20., 21, 22;

and 28. It is obvious that one or more of these contacts may be left 0F if found to be unnecessary. The structure of these contacts is such that the contacting surface indicated at 2% is free to yield away from the moving contact member in two directions;

that is to say, it may move directly outwardly away from the bridging contact and at the same time twist about an axis substantially parallel to the spacing member to which the spring contact is secured. This result is accomplished by bending the spring contact member into substantially U-shape as shown in Fig. l with the .one leg 25 being secured to the portion 26 that is clamped between the spacing member and the frame member 7, the other leg 27 being the one which carries the contacting face 24:. This permits ofa wide swinging movement since the legs 25 and 27 are preferably as long as they can safely be made to fit between the frame members 6 and 7.

Also, in order to give the twisting action, these legs are offset in the plane of the material as indicated at 28 on the leg and at 29 on the leg 27, so that the base of the U- shaped member is considerably offset with respect to the contact and mounting ends of the legs. The result is that, when pressure is applied onthe contacting face 24 if more of it is at the edge 30 than at the edge 31, the contact maytwist so as to permit a greater travel of the edge 30 than the edge 31 thus facilitating the sliding of the contact over the tips ofthe ratchet wheel carrying the movable bridging member which will be pres ently described. These stationary spring contacts are preferably made of spring bronze, and itis preferably known that this material, while capable of withstanding considerable bending with the grainof the metal, if bent across the grain it will break rather easy. By constructing the spring contacts in the above described fashion, the bending may take place with the grain and also the degree of bending is so small with the long contact structure employed as to cause no real distortion of the material and thus prevent crystallization of the spring contacts.

Now the bridging contact member is mounted on a spindle 32 which is rotatably mounted at 33 and34 in the members 6 and 7 and has the squared portions 35 and 36 and 37 separated by means of the grooves at 38.

and 39. This spindle has at the bottom the insulating disc 40 which spaces an insulating carrying member 41 having the bridging contact 42 clamped thereon as by means of,

the lugs 43 and 44 from the bottom frame member 7. The contact faces of the bridging member 42 are bent over as indicated at'45 and 46 tolie on the ratchet faces of the in sulating member 41 for engagement with the spring contacts.- The second insulating washer 47 is then placed on top of the member 41, and the pieces 40, 41, and 47 are pro 'vided with squared apertures so as to fit upon the squared shank 37. The squared portion 36 carries an operating ratchet wheel 48 while the squared portion 35 performs no.

function except as a spacer in a manner which will now be described. 7

The U-shaped yoke 49 has the legs slotted at the ends as indicated in Fig. 5 so as to fit in the grooves 38 and 39 and thus separate the elements on the squared shank 37 from the ratchet wheel 48. Moreover, this yoke is positioned definitely by means of the squared shanks 35, 36,- and 37 on the spindle.-

This yoke is secured to an operating link or pin 50 shown most clearly in Fig. 1 which pin in turn. passes out through the guiding and mounting member 51 to'where it is connected by means of a link .52 to the operating as a means of accomplishing this a bridgin lever 53 which is of the well known Levolier .indicated at 56 so as to fit over the teeth on the ratchet wheel 48. The mounting frame 51 is, as shown clearly in Fig. 2, secured between the frame members 6 and 7 so as to be. rigid therewith. A suitable spring 57 maintains the yoke 49 and the pawl 54 atthe end of the pin 50. I

The operation of the device it is believed will be readily apparent since,by swingingthe lever 53, pin 50 will be pulled outwardly in turn pulling the pawl 54 so as to rotate the spindle 33 and with it the member 41 and bridging contact one step for each deflection of the lever 53 so as to cause the spring 0011- tacts to snap over the ratchet teeth of the member 41 onto the next adjacent recess. Thus by a step by step movement the bridging contact 42 may be caused to connect in turn contacts 20 and 21, contacts 19 and 22, and contacts 18 and 23, and, when in the position shown in Fig. 1, maintain an open circuit condition'for the switch.

It may sometimes be desirable, instead of controlling three independent circuits which would be the case if each pair of the spacing members were connected to a different line, to connect only one source of supply to any one of a. plurality, in the instance shown three, outgoing circuits. In order. to accomplish this, it is only necessary to bridge together the three spacing members 11, 12, and 13 and 16 to the current source. I have shown plate 58 which as, shown is held between the top insulating frame member 6 and the shou'le ders on the spacing elements 11, 12, and 13 so as to electricallyconnect these three. elements.

The assembly of the operating mechanism of the switch including the bridging contact member 42 is, as may-be clearly seen from Figs 1, 2, and 5, a very simple operation" since the spindle may be set up in the lower' insulating member 7 and the parts placed thereon in regular order without the necessity of any clinching or tool operations until the assembly is complete at which 'time the ex-.

tensions 14 can be upset in a suitable machine so as to hold the switch in assembled position. The assembly of thespring contactsis, of course, equally simple as they are placed 1 in position with the spacing members and held thereon by the final upsetting by the ends of thespacing members.

From the above. description, it is thought thatthe construction and advantages-of this device will be clear to those skilled in this art and, having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: v

prising a spindle journalled in said frame, an

insulating-member carrying said bridging contact and non-rotatably mounted on said stationary contact-s, means for supporting spindle, a ratchet wheel non-rotatably mounted on said spindle, and a yoke member having a portion between said insulating member and said wheel and maintaining said insulating member and ratchet wheel in position. A

2. A switch having a frame carrying a plurality of stationary contact members, a rotatable bridging contact member, and means for mounting said rotatable member comprising a spindle journalled in said frame, an insulating member carrying said bridging contact and non-rotatably' mounted on said spindle, a ratchet wheel non-rotatably mounted on said spindle, and ,a yoke member maintaining said insulating member and ratchetwheel in position, said yoke member having an operating pawl associated there with for actuating said ratchet wheel.

3. In a switch having a frame, a plurality of stationary contacts carried by said frame, and a bridging membenadapted to rotate step by step to connect and disconnect said said bridging members comprising a spindle journalled in said .frame and having a plurality of polygonal sections separated by reduced cylindrical sections, an insulating support carrying said bridging'member and fitting on one of said polygonal sections, a ratchet wheel on another polygonal section and operating mechanism having a yoke fitting in said cylindrical sections to position the wheel and insulating support.

4. A- movable bridging contact assembly for-switches comprising spaced frame members, a spindle journalled in said frame members and having slidably and non-rotatably mounted thereon a bridging contact and an actuating element, insulating washers on opposite sides of said bridging contact, and means rotatably receiving said spindle interposed between said actuating element and bridging contact.

5. A movable for switches comprising spaced frame members, a spindle journalled in said frame members and having slidably and non-rotatably mounted thereon a bridging contact and an actuating element, insulating washers on opposite sides of said bridging contact, and means rotatably receiving said spindle interposed between said actuating element and bridging contact, said last named means being movable in a plane perpendicular to said spindle.

bridging contact assembly- 6. A movable bridging contact assembly for switches comprising spaced frame members, a spindle journalled in said frame members and having slidably and non-rotatably mounted thereon a bridging contact and an actuating element, insulating washers on opposite sides of said bridging contact, and

means rotatably receiving said spindle interposed between said actuating element and bridging contact, said last named means being movable in a plane perpendicular to said spindle, and a pawl for moving said actuating member guided by said last named means.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe myname this 27th day of January, .A. D.,

RUDOLF POPP. 

